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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Endless Writing Journeys

Aspiring authors have their fingers tightly wrapped around their pens, ready to either begin or continue their writing journey.

You have new goals set, goals that you hope will actually be met this year.

You may have spent too many years facing rejection, or too many years wondering if you should just give up.

This time last year is when I began to brainstorm and write the first draft of the manuscript which I am currently editing. I have yet to reach the finish line of my writing journey, but I'm much more closer than I was this time last year.

As I look back at 2010, a lot has happened along my journey. I started this blog, began and completed my third manuscript, went to my first writing conference where I met a publisher interested in my project, was offered a contract from this publisher, researched the industry and read many books on the craft of writing. Some of my writing goals were met, some are still in the process of being met, and many were not met.

This year is full of endless opportunities, and we have the privilege to decide what we want to do with this year. That may mean beginning your writing journey or continuing along the path that God has designed for you.

Some of you, though, may have been stumbling along this path for years. Each January, you make a new set of writing goals. You write down more agents to submit your manuscript to, and research which writing conferences you hope to attend. But does it every feel like you're walking in circles?

Perseverance, rejection. Perseverance, rejection. The pattern is the same.

And when you've been travelling along the same road for too long, you become exhausted. You start to have second thoughts about God's promise for you just like the Israelites did on their journey to the Promise Land. They never reached the land God had promised for them because they started to complain along the way. (Exodus 3:8)

They didn't reach the Promise Land not because it ceased to exist, but because they chose to give up.

Caleb and Joshua, however, did reach the land, but only because they kept having faith that God would eventually lead them out of the wilderness and into the land that had been promised to them, despite how long they had been travelling.

Some writing journeys may seem to take much longer than others. Some may seem much shorter. But if God has placed in you the desire to write, then he has a plan to use it. Reaching your goals depend on your willingness to persevere and have faith, or whether you choose to complain, lose hope and just give up.

Whatever happens this year along your writing journey, trust that God is still in control. It is still in his timing. Sure, it may seem long and exhausting. But each year you're closer to your destiny than you were the year before.